Trump Administration Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made a major move to help protect the lives of American motorists and jobs of American motorists when he was in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday, May 20, as he signed an order directing the Department of Trasnsportation to enforce a law requiring truck drivers to speak English.
As background, the law has long been on the books. However, it has not been enforced as of late, leading to President Donald Trump deciding to sign an executive order on April 28 in which he directed the Duffy-led Department of Transportation to include English literacy tests as part of the qualifications for truckers.
Defending the move when Trump signed the order, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “You might not know, but there’s a lot of communication problems between truckers on the road with federal officials and local officials, as well, which obviously is a public safety risk. So we’re going to ensure that our truckers, who are the backbone of our economy, are all able to speak English. That’s a very commonsense policy.”
She further noted that it is incredibly dangerous for drivers who don’t even speak the language to be on the roads, saying, “English is the language of opportunity in America. Allowing drivers who can not read stop signs, or understand police officers’ instructions to operate an 80,000-pound big rig threatens the safety of every American on our roadways.”
To put that into effect, Duffy ordered the DOT to enforce the federal law requiring that a driver must “read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.”
Announcing as much when he was in Austin, Secretary Duffy explained that politicians who haven’t been enforcing this law have been putting being politically correct over keeping Americans safe from unnecessary harm. He said, “For too long, misguided policies have prioritized political correctness over safety of the American people.”
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Then, explaining the matter in a press release, the Department of Transportation defended the move as well, saying, “President Donald Trump and Secretary Duffy believe that proficiency in English is a commonsense, non-negotiable safety requirement for professional drivers, as they should be able to read and understand traffic signs; communicate with traffic safety officers, border patrol, agricultural checkpoints, and cargo weight-limit station personnel; and provide and receive feedback and directions in English.”
It added what the regulation is and how the Obama Administration had caused much danger by getting rid of it, saying, “FMCSA regulations provide that a driver unable to sufficiently read or speak English or understand highway traffic signs and signals is not qualified to operate a commercial motor vehicle. However, in 2016, the Obama administration directed inspectors not to place CMV drivers out-of-service for such violations. The failure to adequately enforce driver qualification standards poses serious safety concerns and increases the likelihood of a crash.”
Concluding, the DOT noted, “Secretary Duffy thanks the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance for its prompt cooperation following the President’s Executive Order. Beginning June 25, 2025, ELP violations will once again be included in the out-of-service criteria—ensuring consistent, nationwide enforcement and reaffirming the Department’s unwavering commitment to roadway safety.”
Featured image credit: Thank You (21 Millions+) views, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colorful_Semi-Trucks.jpg